Fishers Area Sprint Triathlon Race Report

I don't think I've ever been so excited to write a race report.

Let's just say... I totally rocked this one. I PRed the bike and the run, and beat my "A" goal time by 3 minutes! (If you click on that link, you'll see my post from Friday where I mocked the impossibility of last year's 8:56 pace. Well... I beat that this year with a 8:53 pace!)

Just like last year, I won 3rd place in my age group. The difference being that last year, there were only 3 people in my age group. This year there were 14!

I have never placed in my age group without it being by default. I'm really excited about that.

The sad news? I never in a million years thought I would place... so Ryan and I didn't even wait around for the awards ceremony. So I missed my chance to collect my medal and stand on the 3-tiered podium.

I can just picture it now. They're calling my name, people are clapping, all while Ryan and I are down the street stuffing our faces with Wendy's.

Oh well. Apparently I need to not underestimate myself at my next race.

Now on to the photos!

The Fishers race is rather small. Transition was small, but there was plenty of room... only about 7 or 8 bikes per rack.


It was a pool swim, so they send the swimmers off from fastest to slowest. Ryan and I sat in the bleachers and waited my turn.


It was 10 lanes in a 50 meter pool, so the swimmers snaked up and down each lane to total 500 meters.


Waiting in line for my turn...



They sent the swimmers off with 3 seconds in between each. I'm next...


And I'm off...



The swim was decent. I passed a few people, and a few people passed me. One problem I had this year that I didn't experience last year was crowding. It's often hard to pass someone in only 50 meters, so swimmers seemed to collect in bunches at the end of each lane, trying to fight for position.

Once, I was in the process of passing someone, when a girl came up from behind and passed between us. She crowded me so much that I had to slow down and let her go. That's just plain rude!

Soon, the swim was over, and I was out of the pool...


Transition was close (maybe 40 meters between the pool entrance and my bike rack).


I should have dried my feet off better, but I was trying to transition as quickly as possible. I recall my socks being extremely squishy during the bike.





Here we go...




Off on the bike...


5 miles later, I looped past transition...


It's rare to get a photo of myself actually biking instead of just braking...



The bike went really well. It was cool and the wind was calm. The course is extremely flat and easy. There are lots of beginners at this race, so I passed a lot of people.

As I passed one man, I hollered, "on your left!"

He responded, "yeah, story of my day. When do I get to say that?!"

That made me laugh. I remember when I first started triathlons and feeling that exact same way.

A short 10 miles later, and I was done with the bike.




Back into transition...



Aiming for another quick transition, I went off on the run with my race belt and Garmin in hand. I need to practice putting this stuff on while I run, because I struggled a little...


All set and ready for my run...


The run was great. Yes, that's a rare word to describe a run. The course is a slight uphill for the first half, followed by a slight downhill for the second half. I was keeping a close eye on my Garmin, and I was thrilled with my speedy pace.

I was tired, but I kept telling myself, "this is a race. You're meant to be tired!"

3 miles later, I was nearing the finish line...





Done!



I didn't know my official time yet, but I was pretty sure I had beat last year's time. I was thrilled with how I did.


Swim 11:05
T1 1:55
Bike 32:26 (18.5 mph)
T2 1:50
Run 26:40 (8:53 pace)
Total 1:13:58

Hands down, my best race ever. It was a great way to end the 2010 triathlon season. I am completely shocked with how fast my run was. I would say it's a new 5K PR for me, but I'm pretty sure the run course was short the final .1 mile.

Thanks everyone for your support. I'll be back later this week with an update on my weight loss. And next week... Ryan and I are headed to Florida! Yay!